Tourism Ireland, Marketing the Island of Ireland Overseas

BELFAST SET TO ‘HIT THE HIGH NOTES’ IN NEW TOURISM CAMPAIGN

19 Oct 2011

With the biggest music event ever staged in Northern Ireland – the MTV Europe Music Awards – taking place in Belfast on 6 November, a new online tourism campaign has kicked off in Great Britain and across Mainland Europe, to maximise the huge tourism potential of this high profile event.

Given the massive exposure of the MTV EMAs through the media right across the world – it is broadcast each year to an estimated 632 million homes in over 150 countries – this high profile awards ceremony provides Tourism Ireland with a fantastic opportunity to highlight Belfast and Northern Ireland on the international stage. This new Tourism Ireland promotion will target over 3 million music fans and potential holidaymakers in GB, Canada and across Europe.

Tourism Ireland has put in place a busy promotional programme, in advance of 6 November, to capitalise on the tourism potential the show offers, targeting music fans in key tourism markets – including Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, the Nordic region and Belgium. Activity will highlight Belfast Music Week, which takes place 30 October-5 November. It will include a social media campaign through Facebook and Twitter, targeting Tourism Ireland’s 230,000 fans in those countries, featuring regular posts and mini-blogs about Belfast and the event as well as a fantastic competition to win a trip to Belfast. The prize include tickets to the MTV EMAs as well as a host of other activities highlighting the huge variety of things to see and do in Belfast – including a cookery class in the newly opened Belfast Cookery School; a guided visit of the city’s Titanic connections; and a fun Belfast Music Tour.

In GB, Belfast’s music scene and the EMAs will also be highlighted to readers of TimeOut.com, reaching an audience of about 2.7 million; and in the Netherlands, Tourism Ireland’s promotions will place the spotlight on the new bmibaby service from Amsterdam to Belfast, which begins on 31 October.

A specially created page on Tourism Ireland’s website, discoverireland.com, will highlight Belfast and Northern Ireland, encouraging music lovers to visit, with plenty of suggestions and ideas for things to do and see in and around Belfast and Northern Ireland. And key British, European and American media contacts will be invited by Tourism Ireland to come and visit Belfast and Northern Ireland around the MTV EMAs. The message is that Belfast is one of Europe’s most vibrant and ‘happening’ cities with a really dynamic musical scene and a fascinating history steeped in music.

Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland’s chief executive, said: “The MTV EMAs is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the musical heritage of Belfast and a great ‘hook’ for Tourism Ireland to leverage, helping us to reach a huge audience of potential holidaymakers in key markets across Europe and putting Belfast and Northern Ireland in the international spotlight. As well as the millions of people everywhere who will watch the event on TV, a large media contingent will also travel here to cover the event, which will help to showcase Belfast and Northern Ireland in a very positive way to a TV audience of an estimated 632 million households around the world.”

Notes to Editors:
• Tourism Ireland is the organisation responsible for promoting Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland overseas as a leading holiday destination.
• Tourism is responsible for in excess of 4.9% of GDP in Northern Ireland and supports approximately 40,000 jobs.
• Approximately 1.4 million overseas visitors came to Northern Ireland in 2010, delivering revenue of approximately £210 million.
• Tourism Ireland’s international website is www.discoverireland.com; there are 42 different websites, providing information in 14 different languages covering every continent. In 2010 discoverireland.com attracted almost 12 million unique visitors.